Upper School Posts

Students in the sophomore class begin their year with four days together where they are engaged in a community service experience that focused on the virtue of compassion.  This time devoted to service in the community helped bring the class together and allowed individual students to make a difference in the lives of others.  With that trip as a starting point, sophomores were asked to volunteer at least 20 hours of service during the year.  Dawson’s sophomore class volunteered 1,764 hours at over 40 different agencies.

What I appreciated most about this sophomore experience is the opportunity that every member of the class had to make a formal presentation about their work. In presentations to small groups, sophomores were asked to comment on three questions: “What?” “So what?” and “Now what?”  The “What” was a description of the experience including information about the mission of the organization and the population served.  The “So What” was a reflection on the overall learning of the experience.  Students commented on the particular needs in the community that are being filled by non-profit organizations.  Finally, each student was asked to reflect on the future.